The Unknown
by the wicked muse
Summary: Aeslyn is a solo hunter with a pretty solid reputation for kills... but when she shows up to an old haunt wounded and collapses in the presence of the Winchester boys, things get interesting.
1. Chapter 1

Aeslyn wiped the blood off her face with the bottom edge of her shirt, which was also streaked with blood. Her assignment had turned sour and she'd had to resort to untraditional methods to wrap things up. She ran her hands through her hair and then tilted her head to the right, feeling her neck crack several times, and repeating the process to the left. She closed her eyes and headed towards the door of the bar. She'd been here before, granted it'd been a while now, but the bartender was an old friend of hers… that is to say she'd once had a nice torrid fling with him, and they'd kept in touch over the years. She pushed open the door and ignored all the stares at her appearance as she just made eye contact with Freddy and walked to the bar and sat on a stool off to the side, one just slightly in the shadows where a light bulb had blown.

"Hey Freddy"

"Hey" he smiled at her "Bad day? You finally kill your landlord?" He chuckled at her, his English accent still strong after five years in america. He knew full well she was a gypsy who pretty much lived out of her car, but he always teased her about killing her landlord.

"I wish…" she muttered smirking at him and his joke. "I'll take a Guinness, a whiskey on the rocks and a shot of cuervo." She stated with pursed lips that told him it'd been one hell of a night for her.

"Comin right up luv" he said with a wink and walked away.

Aeslyn looked at the small mirrored panels that ran along the wall behind the bar, and saw her reflection for the first time in hours. Her shirt had streaks of splattered blood across it, a big smear along the bottom where she'd wiped her face a few times and a tear at the sleeve where she'd gotten caught on a protruding nail escaping the premises. That one had her cursing the fates for their use of irony. I mean honestly, how many times in your life do you actually come across a protruding nail? She looked at her own face then and noticed that she hadn't so much succeeded at wiping the blood off her face, so much as just smeared it across her forehead and cheek. She had streaks of dried blood flowing through her light brown hair and dark circles were forming under her eyes from lack of sleep. She had a rather small lump up toward her hairline where she'd had to head butt someone to get away… she figured it'd turn a little purple, but nothing major. She looked like hell and felt like worse. Freddy came back rather quickly and set the drinks down in front of her, along with a moist bar towel.

"Saw you lookin" he said as he nodded towards the mirrored panel next to her. "Thought you might want to wipe your face a bit. There's more than a few people starin at ya wondering why yer all covered in blood" he whispered and motioned with his head to the rest of the bar behind him.

"Thanks Freddy" She said with a tired look in her eyes just before downing the shot of tequila foregoing the lime and salt. She slammed the shot glass back down and took a large gulp of the whiskey to help with the taste. She looked at Freddy as he smiled, shook his head and picked up the shot glass and tumbler after she drank the second half of her whiskey.

"I'll be right over here if you need me"

Aeslyn just nodded and picked up the moist towel wincing as the pain in her arm shot through her shoulder reminding her of the poorly bandaged wound she had. She shirked off her jacket and noticed that the fabric she'd wrapped around her left forearm was now bright read with the amount of blood it'd absorbed. She'd gotten sloppy tonight, and it was because her nightmares had come back to plague her with insomnia. She finished wiping the blood off her face and set the cloth down on the counter letting her injured arm rest a moment before she raised the ale to her lips and drank half the bottle in one go. She just wanted to be numb… plus the fact that the pain from the still fresh gash in her arm was a bit unbearable, she tried her hardest to get drunk as fast as possible. She ignored the fact that she knew the alcohol would just make her bleed faster as it thinned… but that wasn't even a thought in her mind. She laid her jacket over her left arm to keep people from asking too many questions. Plus she knew that if Freddy saw it, he'd make her go to a hospital… and that was the very last place she'd ever go.

"Wow… you look like you've had quite the night there" came a rather rough and scratchy voice from behind her.

"Oh you could say that" she replied and felt a little more than light headed.

"I did… mind if I join you?" He asked and sat down on the stool next to her without waiting for her reply.

"Boy… you're a cocky son of a monkey aint ya?" she said and raised her ale to her lips again finishing it off and waving the empty bottle at Freddy, who promptly supplied her with a fresh one… and another shot of tequila. "Thanks babe" she winked at him, suddenly feeling the loss of blood mixing with the hard liquor. She shook her head lightly, hoping to get some of her reasoning back, but knew it wouldn't be long until she passed out completely.

"Son of a monkey?" Dean asked, brow furrowed into a confused look. "That's a new one"

"Well considering how many people have threatened my life for calling their mother a bitch, I took the liberty of creating a quote that would prove less offensive to the particular individuals. Most people don't have problems with the term 'son of a monkey', especially given that we all, as is believed, are derived from monkeys of some sort. So they can't really argue with what is factually notated in anthropological science." She looked at Dean then and smiled at the stunned look on his face. "What? Did I speak beyond your comprehension level?" She muttered as she slammed the shot of tequila and immediately sipped from her ale. She didn't even have to look at him to see the stunned and almost hurt look on his face. "I can see by the look on your face that you're not as dense as you appear to be. Or perhaps you only appear to be dense to make yourself more appealing…" She pursed her lips and cocked her head to the side giving him a sarcastically quizzical look.

"Wow… I don't know if that was an insult or a compliment" Dean said slowly still trying to sort through precisely what she'd said to him. "You could give my brother a run for his money…" he mumbled the last part suddenly wondering if his choice of conquests was indeed a good one.

"Wait… so you mean to tell me that there's another one like you here?" she said her words dripping with sarcasm as she looked away from him and sipped on her whisky.

"Wow… you're uh- feisty." Dean stated and stood a moment wondering if he should just give up on her. He heard her sigh then and looked over at her as she set her glass down on the counter.

"Listen I'm sorry. I have a tendency to be a bit… bitchy is what my girlfriend called it." She said and rolled her eyes at that memory.

"Girlfriend?" Dean asked suddenly feeling a mixture of intrigue and doubt.

"Yeah… my girlfriend hated how aggressive I am… but my boyfriend liked it" She said as she smiled at Freddy. When she didn't hear any reaction from Dean she turned her attention towards him but the small movement reminded her just how badly she was in fact hurt. She knew she wasn't going to stay conscious much longer and had to figure a way out of here without drawing attention. "I just scared you off didn't I? Why is it that men feel challenged by a sexually liberated woman?" She looked at Dean then and had to laugh at the look on his face.

"What?" he asked her when she started laughing.

"That look… you don't know what to think of me do you?" she asked him just before she felt the room spin and she felt her head try to drop. She blinked a few times and tried to focus her eyes again but it wasn't working.

"Hey… you okay?" Dean asked and placed his hand on her right shoulder.

"Yeah… yeah I'm okay, I just need some air I think" She said and stood up slowly, smiling at Freddy as she walked towards the door. Dean just blinked a few times and nodded toward Sam and started to follow her out. That was when he noticed the large spot of fresh blood on the bar and walked over to his brother.

"Hey, we might have an interesting situation with that one…" Dean stated quickly as he walked past Sam and out the door. Dean stared as he saw the woman standing still outside, and he walked towards her as she groaned and collapsed. Dean reached her just in time to catch her good arm and keep her from falling to the ground, trying his best to hold her up as Sam finally walked out the door.

"Sammy… a little help please!" Dean muttered as his brother ran and slipped his arm under the girl's left shoulder, trying his best not to cause any more injury than she already had. The girl's head bobbed as she tried to keep her mind focused and remain conscious as the two men tried to help her to her feet, but she found that her legs weren't quite capable of holding her weight. Just then the boys heard the door to the bar open and two of the largest men they'd ever seen stepped out.

"Aeslyn, you okay?" One of the burley men asked "Aeslyn?" He said again as the two men began to walk forward leaving Dean and Sam to look at each other with startled looks on their faces. They both knew what the situation looked like, and hoped like hell that she'd wake up to let these gargantuan men know she was okay.

"I'm-"she cleared her throat "I'm fine Ralph…" she said quietly, but the two men stopped walking and just narrowed their eyes at the Winchester boys.

"You sure? Freddy wanted us to make sure you weren't in any trouble…" the other large man stated.

"Yeah Allen… These two were just helping me to my car. I'm fine… just had a bit to much to drink" She said as she tried once again to stand, and with Sam and Dean's help was able to.

"Alright… well you got my number still if you need it" Ralph stated as he motioned for the other man to follow him back in.

"Whoa… those guys were like Arnold on super steroids…" Dean smirked at Sam over her shoulder. "What? It was funny…" Dean mumbled before scoffing at Sam's irritated expression. Dean's brow furrowed then as he heard what sounding like water dripping. When he looked around he noticed the red spot starting to grow on the ground and found that the dripping was coming from the girl's hand… which was now covered in blood.

"Jesus!" Dean shouted and lightly lifted her hand as her eyes fluttered with the threat of passing out.

"Dark blue Pontiac" she muttered as she felt her head get fuzzier.

"What?" Sam asked as he leaned towards her

"Dark blue Pontiac, towards the back… mine" she managed to say in a clear voice before her eyes rolled back, her head lobbed backwards and her body collapsed into Sam's arms. Sam picked her up gently and started moving towards the back of the lot, with Dean holding the girl's hand up.

It took Sam a few minutes to realize that the 1967 midnight blue GTO was her car. It just didn't seem like the sort of car she'd drive, but then again, they didn't know much about her. He realized then that he hadn't a clue where her car keys would be.

"Dean…" he tried to get his brother's attention, but failed. Dean's eyes were glued to the car. It was in pristine condition… and had been well cared for.

"DEAN!" Sam tried a little louder and finally got a response.

"Hmm?" Dean said as he pried his eyes off the car, with an effort.

"I need you to find her keys… we need to get her someplace where we can patch her up, she's lost a lot of blood." Sam said as Dean began to go through the pockets in her jacket.

"Jesus… this thing has more compartments than my wallet…" Dean grumbled as he reached into the last pocket of her jacket. "I got nothing"

"Well Dean, considering I'm holding her, you think you could check her pants?"

"Why? They look just fine to me" Dean said as he looked over her lower half with a smirk

.

"For her keys Dean!" Sam spat at him.

"Oh… right. I knew that…" Dean said as he checked her back pockets first with a small smirk on his face. It turned out that her right front pocket held the single car key. "Got it." Dean said pondering why she only had one key… most people at least have some sort of house key, or room key even.

Dean quickly unlocked her car and helped Sam to lay her down on the backseat, which he noted was large enough to sleep in. Once the girl was settled they agreed that Sam would drive her car back to their motel, given that Dean was not about to let Sam drive his car without him in it.

Twenty minutes later both cars pulled up to the motel. Dean hopped out quickly after locking up his baby to unlock the door to the motel, making sure that Sam could get the girl from the car to the room easier. Once inside Dean locked the door behind them as Sam laid the girl on the bed and shouted at Dean for towels and the med-kit they always carried with them.

"Dean, bring me a clean towel… she's still bleeding" Sam said as he unwrapped the blood drenched cloth from her arm and noticed the tear in her arm that was deeper than any he'd ever seen. "Jesus… I don't think I even want to know how she got this one…" he mumbled as he pressed the clean hand towel against her arm and looked around for something he could tie around her arm to keep the blood flow down. "Dean… give me a belt"

Dean unhooked his own belt and pulled it free from the loops of his jeans and handed it to Sam. He stared at the blood that was already seeping into the white towel as Sam wrapped the belt around her arm, just above her elbow. He used the loose end of the belt to wrap around the towel to keep it in place.

"She's gonna need stitches Dean… that's really deep." Sam said as he stood up and looked at his brother who was a little whiter than normal. "You okay? It's not like you've never seen blood before" Sam said with a chuckle as his brother just looked at him and blinked a few times.

"Yeah I'm fine, just feel bad for her. Wonder what did that to her." Dean said quietly and went to the bathroom to wash off his hands, which had collected a rather large amount of blood from the girl. Sam knew there was more to what was bothering Dean than that, but he let it go. Dean brought back a wet washcloth and started to wash the dried blood off the girl's face. Other than being covered in blood, she didn't look that worse for wear. There was a small purple lump on her forehead, but that was it. The dark circles under her eyes made Dean a little concerned, it was a sign that she'd barely slept in days… a symptom he knew rather well.

"We should check the rest of her for injuries" Dean said as he looked at Sam.

"Oh man… can't you go one day without thinking up ways to get a girl naked?" Sam said sarcastically, knowing Dean was right… but not about to let him know that.

"Dude, not what I meant!" Dean said as he furrowed his brow at his brother.

"Uh-huh. Sure" Sam retorted before his face became a little more serious. "Dean, that cut, it's bad. Maybe we should take her to a hospital…"

"No way Sammy. She could be a hunter for all we know, we are not taking that chance. I stitched Dad up with some pretty bad wounds, I can take care of this. Thankfully she didn't loose as much blood as she could have, so we don't have to worry about anything major happening. You have to loose 20% for serious risk factors to play in, and 30% to make it life threatening… I doubt she lost that much. She may wind up with a fever during the night from shock, but it should break pretty quick and we just need to make sure she gets fluids in her body… other than that, we really only need to patch her up." Dean rambled off like he'd said that a hundred times before. Sam just stared at him, wondering if perhaps he'd somehow memorized a scene from E.R. or something.

"How the hell do you know all that?" Sam sounded astonished that his brother had withheld this knowledge from him.

"Dad. Made sure I'd know how to take care of business if things got rough. Made me read up on things…" Dean trailed off as he noticed the tear in the back of her right sleeve. "Hey… you see this? Looks like it got caught on something, but it's not what cut her" Dean said with Sam just staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Dude… when were you going to tell me you knew about this shit?" Sam couldn't keep the stunned sound out of his voice. Usually he was the one with all the lengthy answers, so this little twist floored him. Dean just gave his brother a stern look and Sam shook his head while shrugging his shoulders letting his brother know he hadn't noticed the tear. He thought he knew everything about his brother, but he just found out he didn't.

Dean finished wiping the blood off the girls face and noticed how much was in her hair… and knew that would have to wait until she was awake to be washed out. He brushed a few stray hairs off her face and looked at her a moment. She wasn't strikingly beautiful, but she had strong features that gave her a gracefulness he couldn't help but notice. He decided it was best that they keep as much of her clothing on her, so that when she woke up, she didn't panic and think the worst. Sam just scoffed and unlaced the combat boots she wore and pulled them off her feet, dropping them at the end of the bed followed by her socks.

Dean lifted the girl's head and checked for any injury then proceeded to check the back of her neck and shoulders, then laid her back down. Sam raised her pant legs to her knees and began to look over her lower legs, noticing that she had a rather bad scar on the back of her right calf just below her knee and what looked like the scars from wire or something that wound around her ankles. Sam furrowed his brow as he lifted her right ankle and looked closely at the scars. It was defiantly scars from wire, and some looked like it might have even been barbed.

"Hey Dean…" Sam looked up at him "What do you make of these?" Sam said as he went back to examining the girl's ankles. Dean had been examining her arm and shoulder for any other injuries. He'd noticed that the bleeding was stopping and was working up the gusto to be able to stitch her up. It'd been a while since he'd had to stitch a wound on someone else and he wasn't looking forward to it.

"What's up" Dean asked as he moved to look over Sam's shoulder. "The hell…" he said as he looked a little closer. "Is that from barbed wire? How in the hell would she have gotten that…" Dean muttered. Both boys damn near jumped out of their skin when she moved. She wasn't awake, but she was dreaming and came close to kicking Dean in the face given that he was looking at her foot.

"Son of a-!" Dean shouted as her foot came about an inch from his head. Aeslyn tossed on the bed again, her whole body twitched as if she was having a nightmare. "You know… I hate it when they kick." Dean mumbled lightheartedly trying to hide the fact that an unconscious girl got the drop on both of them.

Sam just leaned forward again, and placed his hand gently on her ankle, making sure that both of their faces were well away from her feet. The moment Sam's hand made contact with the girls ankle, she whimpered and pulled her legs up to tuck close to her body as she rolled over onto her left side and tried to pull her arms into herself. Dean, sensing the action she was intending on taking, moved to the side of the bed and grabbed hold of her left hand to be sure she didn't pull her arm in.

"Sammy get the med kit… I gotta stitch her arm up." Dean said as he sat on the edge of the bed and ran the back of his fingers down her cheek soothingly and smirked as she calmed down. Dean unwrapped the belt and towel from her arm, and winced at the sight of the wound. Dean swallowed audibly as Sam brought the med kit over and tossed it on the bed.

"Jesus…" Sam muttered as he looked at her arm, turned a little white, and moved across the room to sit on the sofa. "What could have done that?"

"It's a clean cut. So my guess is a human with a very sharp knife..." Dean said as he pulled out the needle and surgical thread and closed his eyes for a moment before bringing the needle to the edge of the wound.

Ten minutes later and Dean had the wound neatly stitched and was wrapping the gauze around it to keep the stitches clean. Once the med kit was re-packed, Dean got up and went to the bathroom to wash his hands again and had to throw cold water on his face to keep from vomiting. He'd never had to stitch up a wound that bad before and it had taken its toll on him. He was glad that he hadn't eaten anything recently, or he'd have lost it. When he walked out of the bathroom he was a whiter shade of pale but he needed to make sure the girl's vitals were steady. Sam had passed out on the couch watching tv and Dean sat on the bed next to the girl who had shifted her position in her sleep. Her ankles were locked together and pulled up underneath her, and her wrists sat atop one another above her head. Dean raised an eyebrow at this, as it was not a normal sleeping position. That was when he noticed a set of scars on her wrists and hands. They matched the look of the scars on her ankles, but there were also some marks on her arms and hands that looked like lacerations from imbedded rope of some kind. Dean knew these marks a little to well… he'd found himself hung by his hands on a few occasions.

"Oh man" he muttered to himself as he gently picked up her left arm and looked at her wrist a little closer. "I don't know who you are, but these are not normal…" he muttered as he saw the spiral of dots that ran up her wrist into her forearm from barbed wire, and then the faintest of white scars that did a double loop on her wrist and twisted like rope. They sat right below her thumb and were too high on her wrist to have been from simply restraining her… these were from too much weight pulling on the rope. Dean sighed as he checked over the bandage on her arm for any signs of excessive bleeding, then checked her pulse and placed his hand on her forehead to check for a fever. He could tell that she was running a low grade one by how warm her skin was, but nothing to cause worry over. He rubbed his sleep filled eyes then and decided that he wasn't going to be able to stay up all night to watch over her. He looked over at Sam dead asleep on the couch, his long legs dangling off the end of the short piece of furniture. Dean had to chuckle as he stood up and switched off the light, and flopped down on the other bed, falling asleep almost instantly.


	2. Two

The smoke billowed from the muzzle of the Browning as her white knuckled grip slowly loosened and she lowered her arm. The rain fell hard just beyond the awning she stood under, mixing the blood with dirt and seeping it into the earth. A smile slowly graced her lips as she realized that the task was done. Her target was hit and the payday was worth it all. Slipping the 9mm back into the holster that hung just under her arm, she looked around. The weather wasn't what she'd planned on being in, but she wouldn't complain. The thunder had disguised the sound of the shot, and the rain would wash away the blood he was losing from the single bullet to his head.

"Terrible way to die" she muttered to herself as she zipped up her jacket and stepped off the cement onto the sodden dirt covered ground. "You should have taken the deal" she said as she looked down at the man and shook her head. With a sigh she went through all the pockets she could find, stashing the wallet, cell phone and, what do you know… a small derringer he never had the chance to pull. She didn't know who he was, and didn't bother the find out. The less she knew about her targets, the better she slept at night. Her employers liked that she kept herself detached, made things simple. They gave her a picture, last known location and half payment up front. It's the way she always did things… no one knew who she was and she didn't know anyone. She was a ghost… which made it real easy to disappear without a trace left behind.

Wanting to make quick work of the cleanup, she hoofed it back to her car and fished the plastic sheeting out from the back seat. Laying the clear plastic on the ground she hefted the dead weight onto it, folded the edges up and around the body, then heaved its weight onto her shoulder carting his dead sorry ass back to her trunk. One reason why she'd loved her car was the excessive trunk space. Granted she'd had to install the proper shocks to compensate for the weight ratio, but it had been worth the extra money. Dropping the body on top of the duffel bag full of tools, she closed the trunk and went back to examine the site. The rain was making her job easier than normal, most of the blood was washed away and her hunt for the shell of the bullet was made simple with the rain washing the dirt from the casing. With the small golden cylinder in her hand she watched as the heavens cleaned away the remnants of her existence in this place. With a smile she slipped behind the wheel of her car, gunned the engine and shot off into the wet night like the bullet that stole the life of her target. Her job was only half done… she still had to dispose of the body. And that's where the real fun began.

Aeslyn woke with such a start that she nearly fell off the bed, gasping for air. Blinking a few times and looking around, she couldn't quite place where she was, and had no memory of how she got there either. Taking a few deep breaths she blinked through some of the haze and saw that she was in some sort of motel room… without her shoes on. Where were her boots? She needed her boots in order to leave, and she wasn't wearing them. Okay… where would she have put them? Wait, she couldn't even remember getting to wherever here was, so why would she be able to know where her boots were. Sighing she pushed herself towards the edge of the bed and instantly regretted that choice. The pain that rushed through her left arm caused a momentary squeak of pain to escape her lips. She lifted up her arm and cradled it to her chest breathing deeply to try to stem the pain down a bit. When she could tolerate moving her arm, she extended it just enough to see the gauze wrapped around it. Furrowing her brow she ran the fingers of her right hand over the bandaging before lifting up one edge of it. She could see the edge of the wound that was neatly stitched together and suddenly she felt dizzy and nauseous. Letting out a long breath in the hopes that it would take the edge off her need to vomit, she dropped her arm and stifled a scream of pain as the throbbing started up in her left arm. The pain became overwhelming and she bolted for the door. Sadly her stomach didn't last long enough for her get through the door and she ended up landing on her knees at the closest trash can and giving in to the turmoil in her stomach.

When her internal organs finally relented their attack on her, she used the edge of her shirt to wipe at her mouth and face. Her whole body was shaking and she couldn't get herself to coordinate enough to stand up. She managed to tie off the trash bag, wincing the whole time as attempted to use her left arm and found that her fingers barely worked without searing pain. Once the bag was tied off she shoved the plastic can away from her and tried to crawl back to the bed. It took far more effort and work than she should have needed, but she finally steadied herself just enough to climb up onto the bed. Her body crumpled down and just as she saw the large male passed out on the bed next to hers, the room got blurry and she passed out.

Dean woke up slowly, almost lazily. His memory of the night before took a few moments to come back to him and he sat up quick enough that he had to close his eyes and groan a bit. Shaking his head he looked around and for a moment thought that perhaps the previous night had just been a drunken dream, until he heard the water running in the bathroom. Furrowing his brow and then lifting an eyebrow as he saw Sam still mostly sleeping on the couch. When you're six foot four, not many couches have enough room to actually sleep on. Groaning Dean got off the bed and lumbered toward the bathroom door. That's when he noticed the trash can pushed under a table with the bag tied off. He leaned down to inspect it and instantly regretted it as the smell hit him. He looked around the room again and noticed that the second bed was still made. The water was turned off again and he could hear someone splashing water. He knocked on the door.

"Hey in there…" He couldn't for the life of him remember her name. He heard the water splash quite a bit and her voice softly cursing. For a moment he thought about kicking in the door and seeing if she was okay, but then he heard the water draining from the tub and sloshing as the girl stood up. "Are- are you okay in there?" He asked just as the door was pulled open. Dean actually startled backwards as the tall girl stood in the doorway, towel wrapped around her body. "uh… hey" he said and frowned a bit as he noticed how pale she appeared to be. That's when he saw the red seeping into the towel from where her left arm was pressed against the towel.

Aeslyn hadn't planned on waking up feeling still weak and with her shirt covered in blood, and vomit. The room was full of sounds of snoring and she groaned as she sat up, attempting to use her left arm to support herself. Her arm instantly collapsed under her and she cried out softly as the pain rang through the whole upper left side of her body. She hissed and picked up her arm. The bandage that covered it was now soaking in blood. "great. Torn stitches" she muttered and pulled her shirt off to wrap it around her arm, attempting to keep the bleeding down. She shivered and finally realized just how cold she was. With a groan she got up and stumbled her way to the bathroom. She ran into the doorframe, the counter, and finally collapsed on the floor beside the tub. She turned the water on and plugged the drain before leaning forward and wretching into the toilet. The bath was warm, but her arm wouldn't stop bleeding. She'd already refilled the water twice and she was more than a little concerned about the blood loss at this point. She was just finishing refilling the tub and washing the little streams and dots of red water off her when she heard a knock on the door. One of them was awake and her time was up. She attempted to stand up and made quite a splash of things, finally finding her feet she wrapped the towel around her, held it to her with her left arm and opened the door. The figure that stood before her was striking, and blissfully strong. She could feel the wetness of the towel as it absorbed the blood leaking from the wound on her arm where the stitches had torn. She saw his mouth move, but the words never reached her ears. She could feel the edges of unconsciousness creeping into her mind and she reached out her hand toward the now blurring figure.

"stitches…" she managed to mumble out before she fell limply forward.

Dean gave a bit of a shout as the girl whispered something, reached for him, and collapsed. He managed to catch her when she was about halfway down and gently followed through and laid her out on the floor. The towel had separated and fallen open around her body and dean almost gasped as the bruises and scars were exposed. He felt the warm wetness on his hand from where he had gripped her arm and cursed.

"Shit…. shit shit…" Dean flipped her arm over and winced as he saw the stitches he'd done that had torn away from skin, the edges of the wound were angry and raw, and he fought the urge to vomit as he saw the wound again, only there were minimal signs of healing and more signs of damage. It looked like she'd attempted to use the muscles too quickly and they tissue had torn further. Dean shook his head to clear it as he realized she was still bleeding, and this needed stitching up. That wasn't the only thing that concerned him, given the damage to the rest of her body, that he could see. "Sammy!" he shouted and hoped that it was enough to wake his brother up. It wasn't. "SAMMY! Wake up!" Dean shouted and finally heard him fall off the couch. He couldn't help but stifle a chuckle as his brother grunted and nearly jumped to his feet.

"Dean… Dean?!" Sam shouted out shaking the sleep from his head and running his hands through his hair, the strands falling into perfect place. He took a few steps towards the beds and stopped as he looked around. "… Dean….?"

"Over here Sammy" Dean hollered out again and heard the heavy footfalls of his brother approaching. "help me out here will ya?" he said and looked over his shoulder at Sam who was just staring down at them. "Sam!"

"What… What the hell happened here? Why is she naked?!" Sam asked and knelt down in an attempt to cover her, but stopped as he finally looked at her skin. "What… how…" Sam muttered and looked at Dean.

"No freaking clue Sammy boy, but I do need help getting her on the bed" he said and lifted her arm slightly to make Sam aware of his situation. "This is bad"

"Holy shit!" Sam said and quickly went to work helping his brother lift her and carry her to the bed. The towel fell from her body as soon as they got her lifted off the ground, and Sam gasped as he saw the full extent of her injuries. She was bruised everywhere and her arm wasn't the only part of her that had been bleeding. She had a long cut along the left side of her ribs that was previously stitched. Having lifted her the way they did appeared to have torn the skin there a bit too. Sam cursed and gently laid her down on the bed, quickly picking up the dropped towel and pressing it against her arm. "Dean, go get another towel and clean up this one here" he said and nodded down at her side.

Dean stepped away from the bed and without question retrieved the towel from the bathroom, bringing it over and wiping away the buildup of blood along her ribs. This wound was in the process of healing, but it was far from fully healed. Dean scoffed and looked at the girl's face again. "who the fuck are you lady?" He muttered.

Aesyln came too pretty quickly when the pain of someone pressing on the still sore wound of her side hit her nervous system. She opened her eyes on a hard intake of air and stifled a scream as bit down on her lip to distract her brain. She couldn't feel her left hand, and her whole body had a numbness too it. She was also freezing cold… and it would appear that she was naked. "What… What happen-" She breathed out.

Dean actually jumped as her eyes popped open. "fucking hell!" he said and let go of the towel he was holding. He was impressed that Sam barely even flinched.

"you tore the stitches open…" Sam spoke softly as she finally landed her gaze upon him. "I'm surprised you're awake"

"Pain… woke me…" her words were whispered out. It was as much energy as she could handle.

"Yeah, I'd imagine so. You'd have been better off staying out…"

"Wish… I… was"

"Sam, we need to knock her out again. And she needs some sort of meds to fight the infection that's wrecking havock on her body right now. She's burning up, and in shock" Dean spoke quietly to his brother and hoping that the message rang through.

"Allergic… penicillin" She managed to get out before she passed out again.

"Dean, get the kit and call Bobby. We need help" Sam said and sighed. This day was going to be very long.


	3. Chapter 3

Aesyln came too pretty quickly when the pain of someone pressing on the still sore wound of her side hit her nervous system. She opened her eyes on a hard intake of air and stifled a scream as bit down on her lip to distract her brain. She couldn't feel her left hand, and her whole body had a numbness too it. She was also freezing cold… and it would appear that she was naked. "What… What happen-" She breathed out.

Dean actually jumped as her eyes popped open. "fucking hell!" he said and let go of the towel he was holding. He was impressed that Sam barely even flinched.

"you tore the stitches open…" Sam spoke softly as she finally landed her gaze upon him. "I'm surprised you're awake"

"Pain… woke me…" her words were whispered out. It was as much energy as she could handle.

"Yeah, I'd imagine so. You'd have been better off staying out…"

"Wish… I… was"

"Sam, we need to knock her out again. And she needs some sort of meds to fight the infection that's wrecking havock on her body right now. She's burning up, and in shock" Dean spoke quietly to his brother and hoping that the message rang through.

"Allergic… penicillin" She managed to get out before she passed out again.

"Dean, get the kit and call Bobby. We need help" Sam said and sighed. This day was going to be very long.

Aeslyn felt herself started to surface from a rather heavy sleep. Sedated, she'd been sedated somehow… and whatever it was she didn't like it. She tried to move her body, but it wasn't responding. Her mind began to panic. _Not again._ She began to panic as the images flooded back to her… she flinched and tried to look away, but her body still wouldn't respond. She could feel her heart beating faster and she tried to scream. Nothing seemed to work. A pinprick of light pierced the darkness and cut through the horrifying images. Some of the sedation was wearing off. The tingle of pain that trailed along with that light was almost welcome. The sounds were picking up and mixing with the images her brain was surfacing again. No wonder she hated sleeping… she had to relive all this shit time and time again. She couldn't take it anymore. She forced her body to move in some way and she screamed again.

The boys were lost in their research when they heard her scream. Their heads turned towards the bed and watched as she began to move, and kept screaming. The both jumped to their feet and ran to try to calm her before it brought any uneeded attention to them.

"Jeez, what the hell is she dreaming about?" Dean muttered as Sam tried to calm her down as best he could. He finally made an annoyed sound and grabbed a glass of water, walked over to the bed and dropped the icy glass of liquid onto her face. He stepped back this time, to get away from any of her flailing movements as she sat up.

Sam looked at Dean with disapproval. "Was that really necessary Dean?"

"What? It worked didn't it… she's awake" He said and set the glass down on the closest table.

The frigid water on her face was just what she needed to be brought to the surface from this horrible place locked inside her head. With a hard gasp she sat up as the world came crashing back to her. Gasping for air, she pushed her way up the bed until her back hit the wall behind her. She quickly looked around and was searching for a weapon of any kind when the faces of the two other people in the room finally came into focus. Their voices were soft and the words spoken were soothing.

"Whoa… calm down…" Sam spoke softly, seeing the panic in her eyes.

"Lady we aren't gonna hurt you" Dean said, keeping his voice even and soft.

Aeslyn took a few long breaths and felt her pulse slow down enough that she could focus. She remembered these two. They helped her out last night, and she was likely alive because of that help. Taking one last deep breath, she let the nightmarish memories fade away and looked between the two males standing at the end of the bed watching her.

"I'm sorry… I- I really don't know how to… I'm sorry" She said in a slow ramble of confused words. Shifting her weight she put too much pressure on her left arm and felt a sting of pain. Hissing she lifted her arm again and examined it. It had clean bandages on, and she couldn't feel much. "Thank you" she whispered softly and laid her arm on her lap. Taking one more deep breath she felt a twinge of pain along her side and frowned.

"You uh… you had a good slice along your side too. Did what we could to clean it up and bandage it" Dean said and took a step towards the other bed and sat down on the edge of it.

"Again, thank you" she said and settled back against the bed"

"So, what happened to you?" Sam asked and made no moves to get closer to her, in fact he moved further away and pulled a chair out to sit in.

"I was outnumbered, and wasn't paying attention" She said and pursed her lips as if that was the end of her statement.

"And?" Dean asked, knowing there was more to the story than just that.

"And… I took some damage for it" She said the last with a finality that told them they weren't getting any more from her.

"Wait, seriously, that's all you've got?" Dean asked in a frustrated tone and looked at his brother. "You wanna chime in here and help?"

"No, not really. It's her story to tell" Sam shrugged.

"Well great. That just helps so much" Dean muttered and got up to get a beer.

"I'm sorry, that's all I have to say. I am appreciative of your assistance though. I'm not sure how many people would know the way to treat this sort of thing" She looked between the boys, who remained silent. "What am I missing?"

"We uh- _I_ have had plenty of practice" Dean muttered and looked down at his feet. That was all he was going to offer up to her about their lives.

"Well, again I say thank you. I don't know how you did treat the wound, and likely the fever that came with the start of infection, without a hospital, but I'm very happy to not be in one"

"Yeah, we called an old friend who gave us some tips" Sam finally spoke up. He could see that Dean was done talking.

"Well, thank your friend for me too" she paused a moment and then took a deep breath. "Well, I guess I should get out of your way now…" she said quietly and stood up. Both of the boys moved so fast she was caught off guard when they were suddenly next to her. "I'm okay…" she said and then regretted those words as she realized, she wasn't in fact, okay.

"No, you're not actually" Dean said and eased her back to sitting on the bed. "You woke up twice and ripped those stitches out, and whatever you were dreaming about had you screaming like a murder victim"

Aeslyn frowned and looked up at him. "I wasn't dreaming… I was back-" shaking her head just slightly she let out a long breath. "Nevermind. I see your point though" she said felt the ache course through her body.

"You lost quite a lot of blood the other night. I think you should stay off your feet and rest. We've got this place for a few days, so get yourself back together while you can" Sam said quietly and brought her a glass of water. When she raised a brow at him, he chuckled. "It's for you to drink, not to be thrown on you".

Aeslyn took the glass and slowly drank from it, her throat felt dry enough that the water was almost painful. "Why does my throat hurt so much?"

"You were screaming pretty loud" Dean said and sat back down on the other bed. He watched her closer than he likely should have. Something didn't sit right with him in regards to her. There was something she just wasn't telling them about.


	4. Chapter 4

Aeslyn had been sitting in a chair by the window for the last three hours, writing and sketching. She didn't have it in her to sleep any longer and lying down was just getting frustrating. She was used to moving, and doing things. She hated just sitting around, and more than that, she hated that these two guys were watching her so closely. She could feel them constantly looking at her and she couldn't take it anymore. With a groan of frustration she slammed the pencil down on the table. "I am not some zoo exhibit!" She hollered at them and turned her head to glare at them

Dean failed at trying to casually look away and just sighed. "No one said you were…"

"Then stop fucking staring at me like I am!"

"Okay! Jeez, sorry lady"

Aeslyn sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Thank you. I couldn't take the stares any longer. Felt like ya'll would burn a hole in the side of my head with them."

Sam was the one to raise a brow this time. "Ya'll?"

Aeslyn rolled her eyes and let her hair fall as she hung her head. Shaking it out of her face as she looked up, she figured maybe she did owe them a bit of information at least. "Yes, ya'll. It slips out when I'm tired. I grew up in Texas and… I'm still tired. And my name isn't lady, it's Aeslyn."

Dean's brow went up at the sudden offering of information. "Texas? Seriously? I mean who the fuck actually grows up in Texas?"

Her eyes narrowed in disdain at him. "Well fuckboy, _I_ grew up in Texas. Smaller town near Fort Worth. I didn't hate every minute of it… but I clearly didn't stay there did I?"

Sam scoffed and shook his head. "Pardon my brother, he can be bit callous at times. So…" Sam paused, unable to really come up with a solid question. "What exactly brought you" He could see the look on her face and sighed "I'm just trying to make conversation."

Aeslyn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I know, I'm sorry. It's been a long time since I've spent more than a few hours in the presence of other people. I guess my interpersonal skills are a bit rusty." She turned her attention back to the paper in front of her and went back to sketching. She could feel them watching her again. "I take it you'd like more than just my name and birthplace…" She continued sketching until she realized that the silence wasn't about to end. Setting her pencil down she looked up, tucked her hair behind her ear, and looked between them. "I think I should buy you boys a drink…"

Dean's brow furrowed at her last comment. She'd been so adamant about not leaving that he was confused how she planned to buy them a drink. That was until he watched her walk to the fridge and pull out three beers. _Of course._ Dean thought to himself. He took the proffered beverage and watched as she slowly moved to sit back down in the same chair, but this time she swung it around, and straddled it, leaning against the back of it. He'd never understand why so many women enjoyed sitting that way. "So. Aeslyn from Texas… How exactly did you end up a hunter?"

"Jeez Dean, just dive right there why don't you…" Sam muttered, knowing full well the look he'd get from his brother.

"Actually, yeah I will. I want to know more about her, and I'm sick of dancing around the facts. We patched her up, now she gets to tell us why."

Aselyn just started to chuckle. "Wow, and I thought my people skills were bad…" She sighed again and took a long drink from her beer. "Now, where was I. Ah, yes. I grew up in Texas, and left just after high school. Followed love… or so I thought. Turned out he was just some abusive asshat that strung me along for the money" she watched each of their expressions change. "Yes, the money. I come from money… lots of it too." She laughed as Dean started to cough. "I said I come from money, not that I have it now. Well, that's not entirely true, but that's a story for another time." When she saw one of them open their mouths to speak she just lifted her hand. "You get one chance to hear my tale… you listen or you lose" She looked back out the window. "So I followed the abusive fuck to California. Only took one ER visit for me to cut and run. I made it all the way to Vegas before the bastard found me." She took a long drink from her beer again, then set it on the table and started picking at the label.

"And?" Dean asked, impatience clear in his voice.

She just kept picking at the label, deciding how much more she wanted to disclose. Finally she sighed, shook her head and scoffed. "Fuck it" she muttered and shook her head "suppose someone should know all this shit, might as well be you". Swallowing hard, she peeled the label off the bottle and started to fold it up. "So, he tracks me down to Vegas, and I ran" Deans sound of frustration brought her head up. "No, I mean I literally ran. Like, ran through this shitty little area of the town until my legs ached. I ran until I could get myself to the most public location possible… the strip. Thankfully that is one place that doesn't ever sleep, but the downside to it is that creatures of all sorts frequent it as well. You'd be surprised how many demons and shifters are there. I tried to blend into the crowd, but it didn't help. So the fucker corners me, drags me into an alley and wraps his hands around my neck." She chuckled "out of nowhere this guy comes walking down the alley like he owns the place, and throws a flask full of water at him. Well… I'd thought it was just water. Of course I had no idea then just what he was" She paused, set the folded label down on the table and ran a hand through her hair. "I would be one to fall in love with a fucking demon. Even after all the shit… I loved him" She cleared her throat and kept going. "So there I am, coughing up a storm and this guy whips out a book and starts reading from it in Latin. That's about when the lightbulb went on. I watched, shocked, as this guy literally exorcised a demon… right in front of me. Scared the piss out of me…" She finally looked up then and into the confused, and shocked faces of Sam and Dean.

Dean just started to laugh. "Wow" he said and stood up. "That's a hell of a tale. Care to tell the truth now?" His voice was full of anger and frustration.

"DEAN!" Sam shouted at him.

"What? That's the most bullshit story I've heard in a long time"

"Oh, right, because nothing like that could ever actually happen to someone. I mean, it's not like our story didn't start with a demon…" Sam rambled off.

"Believe it or not, it's the fucking truth you arrogant bastard. I followed that guy for two days begging him to explain all of it to me… to teach me what he knew. So you can either believe my story, or don't. That's entirely up to you… but it aint bullshit" She said and looked up at him with anger in her eyes.

Dean rolled his eyes and walked away. "I need a stronger drink" he muttered, grabbed his keys and walked out the door.

Sam started to chase after his brother, but realized it was pointless. He watched through the window as Dean stopped at the door to the Impala, muttered something, shook his head and walked off. Turning back towards her he smiled lightly. "Sorry about that… he has a hard time believing people sometimes" he said and looked around awkwardly. "So, uh…"

"Yeah well, it's not like my story is a little tough to believe. Hell sometimes I don't want to believe it… but it happened" Her words were full of pain and regret and she went back to picking at something on the beer bottle. "Look you don't have to stay and babysit me. Go after your brother. I'm good here, can't go far with one arm out of commission" she said and stood up, walked to the TV and turned it on before sitting down on the bed. She laughed at the look on Sam's face. "I swear to you that I won't go anywhere. If it makes you feel better…" She picked up her wallet and tossed it at him, smiling as he caught it. "That thing is my life… so don't lose it" she nodded at him and lay back on the bed. "Now go calm him down. I'm just going to lay here and watch TV. Swear it" She watched as he hesitantly turned, and left. "Fucks sake…" She muttered and changed the channel on the TV.

Dean had reluctantly followed his brother, but only after Sam had sat and joined him for a beer. He needed time to clear his head, and at this point he didn't give a fuck if that slice of crazy he'd patched up had run off. An hour later he was walking down the road with Sam, nothing but the crunch of the ground under their boots to kill the silence.

"I can't believe you talked me into leaving"

"I can't believe you bailed out like that"

"I bailed because she's bat shit crazy Sam… even you have to be able to see that"

"What, because her story is a little out of the ordinary? Come on Dean, OUR stories are out of the ordinary."

Dean scoffed, but didn't really have much of a retort to Sam's statement… because he really couldn't argue with it. Letting out a long sigh he chuckled a little as they approached the door to the motel.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing Sammy… nothing…" shaking his head he reached for the key in his back pocket.

That's when they heard the blood curdling scream from the other side of the door. Dean fumbled just a moment as he unlocked the door, and the scream grew louder. Sam had his gun drawn and Dean scanned the room, only to find it completely empty.

"DEAN!" Sam yelled, stowing his gun and running toward the bed.

Aeslyn would appear to be in some form of night terror as she flailed on the bed still screaming. It took Sam a moment to reach her and just as he did, her body twisted, her legs flinging with a speed known only in fear. Sam grunted as her right leg connected with his side, and took him down. A moment later Dean was there and attempting to hold her down. Sam stood up in time to see Aeslyn's arm fling out and connect with Dean's face. Sam stood up, and wrestled her arms down.

"We need to wake her up!" He called out to his brother over her continued screams "before people come knocking on the door…"

Dean nodded and lifted the girl, still flailing and screaming, over his shoulder and headed toward the bathroom, he heaved her into the shower and turned on the coldest water he could. Shaking his head from the barrage of hits he suffered in his attempts to move her, he stepped back not wanting to be so close when she did wake up. Just as Sam reached the doorway, the screaming stopped. Aeslyn gasped as she came to and panicked.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?" she called out and jumped as she saw Dean lean in to turn off the water.

"Why don't you tell us?"

Aeslyn ran her hands over her face, wiping the water from her eyes and gathering her hair back as she looked around. "Why am I in the shower?" She asked timidly.

Dean raised a brow and looked down at her, running the back of his hand over his now swelling cheekbone. "Had to wake you up"

Aeslyn heaved a sigh and dropped her head back against the wall behind her. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let myself sleep. I didn't think I would still suffer the night terrors. Haven't had one in so long"


End file.
